Mail signal means for rural mailboxes



July 15, 1958 A. E. AUGER MAIL SIGNAL MEANS FOR RURAL MAILBoxEs Filed May 18, 1955 A mx AW United States Patent() MAIL SIGNAL MEANS FOR RURAL MAILBOXES Alas Ellis Auger, Saco, Maine Application May 18, 1955, Serial No. 509,202

1 claim. (el. 232-34) The present invention relates in a broad and general way to a rural mailbox and has more particular reference to a construction which is equipped to handle the ordinary requirements of the mail carrier and, what is just as important, the day-to-day needs` of the owners, the intended results being accomplished through the medium of a construction which utilizes the regular or conventional side-type outgoing mail signaling flag and is characterized by a second or auxiliary ag the purpose of which is, obviously, to signify to intended recipients of mail the fact that mail has been left or deposited in the box by the mail carrier.

It is generally Well known that the common or ordinary rural mailbox comprises a suitably sized and shaped box which is closed except at the front where it is open and equipped with a hinged downwardly and outwardly swingable door. Mounted on the top of the box is a spring latch which is releasably engageable with a keeper whereby the door is held normally closed by this: simple type of a catch. On one vertical side wall and exteriorly of the box there is a pivotally mounted mail signaling ag. This is usually a red flag or equivalent member and it is placed in an up position by the owner or resident to direct the attention of the mail carrier to the fact that outgoing mail has been placed in the box. It is the purpose of the instant :invention to provide a second signaling flag which is mounted on the box so as not to conflict with the usual or conventional flag. To this end, it will be mounted, by preference, on the upper portion of the box and its obvious purpose is to enable the mail carrier to place the second flag in an up position after he has left mail in the box so that the occupants of the house or residents as they are sometimes called, may determine at a distance that there is mail in the box to be picked up by them.

All of the above goes to show that it is an object of the invention to structurally, functionally and otherwise improve upon constructions in the field under consideration and, in doing so, to provide an arrangement in which the manufacturers of mailboxes will nd their manufacturing requirements met, retailers will find better and more efficient rural mailboxes in readinessfor sale, and rural users will find their over-all needs expertly taken into account and embodied in a feasible and practical construction.

In carrying out a preferred embodiment of the invention, a simple arm or staff is provided and is equipped at one end with the intended signaling flag. The other end of the staff has a hinge and this is hingedly connected with hinge means on an adapter and the adapter is so constructed that it lends itself for practical use on a part of the latch, the type ordinarily employed in the construction of a rural mailbox catch.

Other objects, features and advantages will become more readily apparent from the following description and the accompanying sheet of drawings.

In the drawings:

Figure 1 is a fragmentary perspective view of a conventional rural mail delivery box which is improved by ICC the addition thereto of the auxiliary incoming mail signaling device which is the subject of the instant matter.

Figure 2 is a sectional view of a fragmentary typetaken on the vertical line 2 2 of Figure 1, looking in the direction of the arrows.

Figure 3 is an exploded perspective view of the auxiliary signaling flag.

Figure 4 is a fragmentary perspective view in which modified form of the invention is disclosed.

Figure 5 is a horizontal section on the plane of the line 5 5 of Figure 4.

Figure 6 is a perspective view of the` modified adapter bracket.

Referring now to the drawings, and particularly to the form of the invention seen in the modification identified as Figures 1 to 3, inclusive, the more or less standard type hollow rural mail delivery box is denoted by Vthe numeral 8. It isprovided` with bottom, side andend as well as top walls forming a container which is .closed `except at the front. "The side `walls are denoted `at 10 and the convex top wall at 12. The .open front is seen in Figure 2 and is closed, as usual, by an upwardlyand downwardly swinging door 14. This is hinged in place `as at 16 and has marginal flanges 18 engaging over the or otherwise secured at 32 (Fig. 2), there being an `outstanding end portion carrying the Vkeeper groove and there being an upstanding vertical terminal 34 which `is ordi narily used as a finger piece to assist in opening and .closing the catch.

The usual signaling flag means is denoted generally by the numeral 36 in Figure 1. It comprisesa .staff or standard 38 with a red or equivalent signalling flag 40. The other end portion of the staff is hinged in place as at 42 on an appropriate attaching bracket 44 secured Vto the side wall. The numeral 46 designates` a .stop bracket. It will be understood that this` signaling flag means 30 is the usual type employed and therefore may be of any construction. It is shown in its down position in Fig. l in which position the mail carrier would not stopy by to pick up mail. If the flag were up it would then signify to the mail carrier that outgoing mail had been placed in the box and that he would therefore be called upon to stop and get it into the mails.

The added or extra` signaling means is highly desirable but must be installed without requiring any extensive alterations or in any manner interfering with .the `moreor less conventional box and Signal construction. `In other words, it should fit into the picture in a practical and harmonious manner and one of the objectives of the invention is to achieve this result with requisite efficiency. Of course, if the extra signal is to be incorporated into the box at the time of manufacture, it would be a permanent or built on feature of the box. In the instant case it is to be assumed that for the most part the extra signal would be an attachment. To this end, advantage is taken of the construction of the catch means. More specifically, the finger-piece 34 is involved since this is to be the support for the extra flag. To begin with, let the numeral 48 designate the plate or flag. This might Well be colored green so as` not to conflict with the red flag 40. Then, there is an arm or part which can. be called the staff 50 and this is provided at its lower end with a hinge knuckle 52 and it has a bend 54 between its ends. There is a U-shaped adapter clip or bracket 56 provided and this is tted over the linger-piece 34 and has bolt holes 58 to accommodate anassembling bolt 60 and retaining nut 62. Thus, the adapter is applied and bolted to the existing finger-piece 34 and the upper rounded edge `portion 64 provides a satisfactory keeper for the bend 54.

The lower end of the outermost member of the adapter is provided with hinge knuckles 66 between which the aforementioned knuckle 52 ts. These several knuckles vare pinned together (not detailed) and thus a suitable hinge is had. It follows that the finger-piece 34 of the bracket 28 therefore provides a handy place for bolted or equivalent application of the adapter which, in turn, has the staf of the auxiliary flag hinged thereto. This means that the device is on the catch and is out of the way. Of course, when the signal is not in use it is suspended in a hanging or down position as shown in phantom lines in Figure 2. In fact, this down position is the normal position and thereforewhen mail has been left in the box for the carrier he lifts this flag so that it comes to a display position and at once notifies the residents in the nearby house that mail has been left and should be picked up. While it is true that this added chore will, no doubt, add extra burden to the duties of the mail carrier, it will be mutually helpful. Perhaps, however, mail carriers will ascribe to this additional service since receiving mail on time by expected recipients is often a matter of life or death and involves all sorts of complications that, by this means of handling outgoing and incoming services mutual advantages are served.

In the form of the invention seen in Figures 4, and 6, the 'hinged auxiliary flag is the same. Therefore, the same reference numerals are employed. The only difference here is that the adapter fitting is varied. That is to say, the type of fitting at 68 in Figure 6 is employed. This comprises a plate 70 with bolt holes for the bolts 72 and with channel-shaped marginal flanges 74 to accommodate a cleat 76 which is held in place by the bolts. In fact, the aforementioned linger-piece 34 is sandwiched between plate 70 and cleat 76 with the bolts passing through all three parts, as brought out in Figure 5. It will be further noted that the plate portion of the fitting is provided with suitably arranged hinge knuckles 78 between which the complemental knuckle 52 is pinned (not detailed) in the manner best shown in Fig. 4.

All that one has to do is to purchase an appropriate adapter to fit the usual finger-piece 34 and then bolt it in place. The hinged staff of the signaling flag has a keeper bend which cooperates with the adapter and thus this simple arrangement provides a readily applicable and removable and handy attachment, one that fulfillsthe requirements of the invention in a highly practicable and satisfactory manner.

It will be clear from the description that the mailbox 8 and signaling means 36 is conventional and therefore functions in the usual manner. The addition or attachment of this invention to the catch means is unique in that it embodies an adapter with a flag-equipped staff to be mounted thereon.

Obviously, my invention can be used in a manner just the reverse of that shown. That is to say it can be installed so that the signal flag lays atop the box. In this position it would not interfere with the opening of the door. From the hinge to the offset it would lay flat on the box, and then it would curve upwards to the staff and touch the box again with the tip of the flag. In this position it could easily be raised to an upright position by the carrier to courteously perform what would prove to be an appreciated public service.

As far as ice and snow is concerned the components of the invention would not Afreeze any more than the cover of the box to the box and the hinge of the cover. Manifestly, if the signal were installed to lay on top of the box (to be raised by the carrier) the house owner of the box would certainly do his duty and keep the signal free from ice and snow for his own benefit. In this position it would not interfere with any name-plate that might be attached to the box. Name plates are usually 10 inches long while the box is about 18 inches. The signal flag from the finger-piece is only about 5 inches.

And again I might add that the raising of the signal flag to notify in respect to incoming mail would not require any more-maybe not as much-effort as raising the outgoing signal flag.

The foregoing is considered as illustrative only of the principles of the invention. Further, since numerous modications and changes will readily occur to those skilled in the art, it is not desired to limit the invention to the exact co-nstruction and operation shown and described, and accordingly all suitable modifications and equivalents may be resorted to, falling within the scope of the invention as claimed.

What is claimed as new is as follows:

An attachment for a conventional-type rural mailbox door retaining latch which has an end portion fastened atop the box and a portion extending outwardly over and beyond the door and then terminating in an upstanding free end portion, said attachment comprising an adapter, said adapter being in the form of a substantially U-shaped clip having forward and rearward spaced parallel arms connected at corresponding ends by a bight portion, said bight portion being convexly rounded to form a keeper, the lower end of said forward arm being provided with spaced axially aligned hinge knuckles, said arms being adapted to straddle said upstanding free end portion, a signaling ag embodying a staff, a flag attached to one end of the staff, said staff having a lower end providing a hinge knuckle interposed between and aligned with said hinge knuckles and hingedly connected thereto, a prerequisite median portion of said staff having a hookshaped bend dening a retainer and said retainer being resilient and releasably engageable with said keeper.

References Cited in the le of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 

